LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

TBV proudly presents the annual special issue! The bottom of the labour market is crowded with people who have a hard time staying in the labour process. These are mainly people on benefits, but also underprivileged migrants employed as, for example, temporary workers. For the quality of employment at the bottom of the labour market one can make a distinction between working in a sheltered environment such as the sheltered workplaces or bad working environments. (see the contribution by the Netherlands Center for Occupational Diseases). Occupational physician L. Elders describes the risks and solutions for scaffold builders in the Netherlands, being a vulnerable occupation ‘at a lonely height’ on the lower rungs of the socio-economic ladder. Every year there are on average 350 accidents, of which three are fatal. Accidents cause 13% of the total volume of absenteeism. …